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Accounting and Financial Planning for Law FirmsFeaturesLaw Department ManagementLaw Firm Management

It's Time for Lawyers to Return to the Office 5 Days a Week

By J. Mark Santiago
April 01, 2024

I have been following legal publications and websites of late and it appears that the annual "Run for the Bonuses" is over and ATL has deactivated its hotline/extortion line until December. So the focus of associate interest has turned to a firm's Return to Office (RTO) policy.

My random survey of more than 25 AmLaw firms revealed no emerging consensus on how many days is appropriate for associates to be in the office. There are a number of firms that require five days a week while some still have an open "work from home" whenever (including full-time) ethos. Many firms have settled on a three day in the office policy (Tuesday to Thursday predominantly) but with sparse checking to guarantee policy adherence.

The New York Times published an article about who is still working from home, and they revealed some surprising (at least for me) information that re-enforced my long-held belief about how and where people work: Slightly more than 80% of the total American labor force of approximately 143 million work full-time in person at their place of employment. Another 10% work in a hybrid environment, and 11% work remote all the time.

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